Saudi Arabia to convene interfaith summit
March 25th, 2008 by JILL MILLER ZIMON
Just last night I left this comment on this TMV post about wanting peace for children of Israel and Palestine:
I don’t see anyone acknowledging what it would take for people who live in the occupied territories to believe that their children can live in peace and what it would take for people who live in the state of Israel to believe that their children can live in peace.
What exactly might that be?
One element is trust - trust that this is what both populations want.
How do you build trust? Through learning and coming to an understanding about common perspectives and common issues, as well as different perspectives and difference issues. Without knowledge about one another, there can never be a stable sense of trust because everything is based on hearsay and speculation.
Today, the Jerusalem Post (here) and Ha’aretz (here) have published articles about how Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah wants to “convene a meeting between Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religious communities.”
From the JPost article:
“I invite representatives of all the monotheistic religions to meet with their brothers in faith,” the king was quoted as saying. The theme of the expected conference was reported to be “respect among the religions.”
The news agency reported that senior Muslim leaders authorized the idea and consultations would be made with Islamic religious authorities from other countries. The king went on to say that “with God’s help we will meet our brethren from other religions, including those who believe in the Torah and in the Gospel, in order to find ways to defend humanity.”
This, he said, comes after humanity has lost its morality, sincerity and steadfastness. Also, the religions were confronted by challenges such as dealing with the disintegration of the family and ever-expanding Atheism, he said.
Why this hasn’t been done before, or at least to my memory, I can’t say though I’m sure there are many good reasons. However, the fact is that the Saudi King is under great pressure in his own country to modernize and Westernize, in terms of women’s rights and religious diversity and tolerance. His would not be the first time an ostensible leader of one religion seeks information and possibly advice from another religion to understand how religions manage under such pressures.
What might the meeting offer as an outcome? Impossible to say, but given the nature of intolerance in the region right now, even within countries, let alone between them, it’s hard to imagine the meeting making things worse. (I know - never say that!)
This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 25th, 2008 at 11:36 am and is filed under Lebanon, Mideast, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Religion, Israel, Middle East. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
